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Our staff of completely overqualified basketball geniuses (totally not hyperbolizing, heh..heh) took a stab at predicting some of the results of the upcoming season, which starts tonight.
As you’ll see below, our staff like the Kansas Jayhawks to retain its spot as Big 12 overlord, but expects a strong season from Tech despite losing a major chunk of its offense to the NBA and graduation last year.
The Duke Blue Devils and Kentucky Wildcats both appear on most of our staff’s Final Four, with Duke the most-picked champion (three selections), followed by Gonzaga, Kentucky and Kansas with two selections. Tech will play Duke this season in what will be a fascinating matchup. If the Red Raiders can hold their own against the undisputed best collection of freshmen in the country, that may indicate a tournament run in March.
Of course, we have one troll who predicted a national championship for Texas Tech, but hey, it’s college basketball, anything can happen.
Check out the full list of predictions below:
Predicting the 2018-2019 season
| Staff member | Texas Tech record (30 games) | TTU conference record (18 games) | Big 12 champion | Final Four Team #1 | Final Four Team #2 | Final Four Team #3 | Final Four Team #4 | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff member | Texas Tech record (30 games) | TTU conference record (18 games) | Big 12 champion | Final Four Team #1 | Final Four Team #2 | Final Four Team #3 | Final Four Team #4 | Champion |
| Zach Mason | 20-10 | 10-8 | West Virginia | Duke | Gonzaga | Virginia | Michigan State | Gonzaga |
| Andrea Cornaglia | 21-9 | 12-6 | Kansas | Duke | Gonzaga | Kentucky | Tennessee | Kentucky |
| Grant Matheny | 19-11 | 11-7 | Kansas | Kansas | Kentucky | Virginia | Syracuse | Virginia |
| Jacob Harris | 21-9 | 11-7 | Kansas | Duke | Kentucky | Michigan State | Texas Tech | Duke |
| Mike Macon | 23-7 | 12-6 | Kansas | Duke | Kansas | Texas Tech | Kentucky | Duke |
| Casey Montalvo | 20-10 | 10-8 | Kansas | Kentucky | Virginia | Kansas | Gonzaga | Gonzaga |
| Tyler Dipprey | 20-10 | 10-8 | Kansas | Duke | Michigan state | Kansas | Virginia | Kansas |
| Jeremy Gillilan | 21-9 | 14-4 | Texas Tech | Villanova | Kentucky | Kansas | Texas Tech | Texas Tech |
| Emory Lyda | 21-9 | 10-8 | Kansas | Kansas | Nevada | Kentucky | Oregon | Kansas |
| Alexa Boutwell | 19-11 | 10-8 | Kansas | Duke | Gonzaga | Virginia | Kansas | Duke |
| Nathan Castillo | 21-9 | 12-6 | Kansas | Duke | Kansas | Kentucky | Oregon | Kentucky |